Yomeishu: Win Megumi and a beverage mixer!

The everyday person works very hard on a daily basis, taking a toll on their health.

Yomeishu is able to restore and maintain your well-being with natural ingredients.

You can win the goodness of Megumi (a liqueur made with 13 oriental herbs for everyday relaxation), and a Japanese beverage mixer just by answering a simple question!

20 winners will be picked each week for 5 weeks.

This week’s entries close on 28th November 2012.

You could be a winner at:
Yomeishu Guess & Win!

Be cautious even as we accept higher risks.

When I did a Diploma in Business, I had to study Business Law. One thing I remember is that something we buy has to be "fit for the purpose it was built for" and be "of merchantible quality".

So, let's say you bought a contraption which was supposed to keep food fresh but it did not; then, it was not fit for the purpose it was built for. If the contraption really did keep food fresh but it started to fall apart within the first week of use, then, it was not of merchantible quality.

Singapore's Lemon Law which kicked in on 1 September 2012 stipulates a 6 months period in which buyers now have to take action on any defective product. This addresses the issue of "merchantible quality".

In the weekend edition of The Business Times, I read an interesting article on whether conventional wealth management wisdom which says that people nearing retirement should have more of their wealth in conservative bonds is "fit for purpose". This actually raised a question in my mind as to whether wealth managers are providing products which are fit for purpose or are they self serving sales people.

In the few encounters I had with wealth managers, I was advised to be more aggressive with my investments because people in their 30s and early 40s could afford to do so. One asked me why was I so conservative when I told him I was not interested in any of his proposals which sounded rather risky to me. I was then advised that only people nearing retirement should be more conservative.

So far, my personal experience with wealth managers has not been positive, having lost much money through products they sold to me. Unlike physical goods, wealth managers do not have to provide any guarantees as to a financial product's performance. This could be the reason why when the Mini Bonds and other structured products offered a "capital guaranteed" feature, they drew so many investors. Of course, they were not of "merchantible quality" but no buyer could tell until things fell apart. Unlike physical goods, it was too late to do anything.

In an environment of very low interest rates and high inflation, we have to seek higher returns on capital to protect our wealth. However, we have to exercise caution even as we accept higher risks.

Related posts:
1. Low interest rates' a double whammy for some.
2. To protect our wealth, we have to take risk.
3. Fraud: Like taking candy from a baby.